Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗ChainStaff
Mommy's Best Games · Published by Mommy's Best Games · Official site ↗
Content notice: All depictions of violence are 2 dimensional and heavily stylized. As part of your quest to cleanse Earth of the Star Spore menace, you'll use all the weapons at your disposal to defeat your foes, many of whom will die bloody deaths. Additionally, you may harvest resources from your fellow soldiers in order to increase the power of the alien keeping you alive, and this process is messy.
Very Positive — 94% positive (98 reviews) · 17 achievements
Last updated 28 Sept 2026
ChainStaff is a brutal action-platformer with a transforming spear and grappling hook, blazing weapon upgrades, and a rocking soundtrack. Aliens have attached to your head! Swing, shoot, and spear your way through mutating hordes and bone-shaking boss fights, and get this thing off your head!
£12.79
Lowest price we've ever recorded
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Price history
Action · 2026 · More £5 - £15 games
Master the art of swinging and shooting as you battle evolving alien foes in ChainStaff. With a unique grappling hook and spear, blast your way to victory while trying to get that pesky head attachment off.
About this game
Note: No Gen AI was used.
Our planet is under attack from the Star Spores, and they've warped life on Earth into ferocious uber-bugs.
Even worse, a nasty alien has made its new home directly attached to your head.
But it's not all bad news - your new best friend has provided both the strength to fight back against the mutated horde, and control over a weapon that can tip the balance of the battle in humanity's favor: the ChainStaff.
As you traverse the surreal landscape, you'll encounter your fellow soldiers, stranded in harsh environments. Do you rescue your comrades, or listen to the alien voice in your head and harvest them for upgrades?
If you can persevere and defeat the Star Spores, perhaps you can save everyone…including yourself.
Hurl it as a spear and slice aliens in half. Throw it to the ground as a shield to stop incoming attacks. Grapple and swing on just about anything. The transforming ChainStaff does all this and more, and all with one button, it’s all up to you.
Pounded to mush, stabbed through the heart, sheared in two. Prepare to meet your doom in a myriad of disgusting ways. All deaths are avoidable, but some dangers may require special strategies.
The game features around 6 to 8 hours of gameplay on the first playthrough.
The creatures of Earth have been mutated by aliens: you’ll come across dozens of unusual creatures, and once you get past those, you’ll have to fight against screen-filling monstrosities.
Stranded soldiers dot the landscape of ChainStaff. You have to choose whether to rescue them or devour their organs; each option has unique benefits and will lead to different endings.
Mist trails around rocky crags.
Wind blows over icy, moon-lit hills.
Water streams down mossy cliffs.
Fully hand-drawn art immerses you in a living world inspired by album covers of the 70s and 80s.
Scorching riffs and peals of thunder. Pumping beats drive you ever forward.
Rock out to the classic metal soundtrack by the award-winning composer Deon van Heerden of Broforce and Warhammer 40k: Shootas Blood & Teef soundtrack fame. There’s some lighter interludes with 70s synth, catchy melodies, and even some cowbell. Now it’s back to the heavy tracks, where it’s time to bang your head while smashing skulls.
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: Quad Core CPU
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: GT 1030
- Storage: 2 GB available space
Recommended
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
Supported Languages
Latest news
AnnouncementsOfficial
Time Trials DLC out now!
There is no "blue scent trail" here. ːsteammockingːNo hand-holding. No upgrade trees, loot boxes, or crafting tables.It's just You, Your brass balls, And the ChainStaff! ːsteamhappyːThe "Time Trials" DLC is 50 hand-made challenge levels, all unlocked at the start. Jump in to them in any order, and starting swinging!Each level is focused, nice and short with a cool concept in mind (most only 10 to 20 seconds long).You get to figure out your route each time, refining a faster and faster way to the finish.All levels award you a Bronze, Silver, or Gold medal based on your finish time (offline mode). And the game is approved for Steam Deck so it's fun to take it on the go. And every level has its own dedicated Leaderboard to compare your best score the best players in the world!Time to get into the swing of the things!Read full article on Community Announcements (Mommy's Best Games)AnnouncementsOfficial
ChainStaff DLC Reveal
I have awesome news! We are putting the finishing touches on some big DLC for ChainStaff. It's called the "ChainStaff Time Trials". Fifty super-fast challenge levels complete with online leaderboards.In the main game, you get 10 HUGE levels to take your time to explore. I thought a great complement to this action would be a set of challenge levels. Personally I loved the old game "Bionic Commando Rearmed" on the Xbox 360 (the sequel kinda stunk, don't get me started). In Bionic Commando Rearmed you got the single-player campaign to take your time to explore, get upgrades, and complete the story. But along the way you also unlocked dozens of really tricky challenge levels. And what I liked about those levels is how they each were a tiny gameplay challenge. Each level had a focus on how to do a new, tricky swing or platforming move.And I'm doing something similar here! Each of the 50 levels in the Time Trials focuses on a bit of gameplay using the ChainStaff and platforming. Every level is designed by my hand, and is unlocked from the start so you can pick and play as you like. Get ready to zip and swing like never before! It's all about speed and flow in the DLC.The levels all have Bronze, Silver, and Gold medal ratings for how fast you can complete them. The Bronze are very doable (easy mode) for most players, so don't be scared away by the difficulty. Once you get your head around the levels though, the Gold medal times will take some effort to reach. And you'll be blown away when you start figuring out tiny tricks to shave 1, 2 or even 5 seconds off what you thought was your best time!Each time you get a new "best time" your score is uploaded to the global leaderboards. Did you already get Gold on a level? There is no "S rank" in levels...my idea is you all get to prove on the leaderboards how fast you can complete some levels--and to show off your own "S rank" time.So that's the Time Trials! There's loads of new, interesting, environmental hazards, and lots o...Read full article on Community Announcements (Mommy's Best Games)Patch NotesOfficial
Free Hard Mode Update!
Ready to kick some alien butt? The Hard mode update is here!Already beaten Normal mode? Start a New Game+ and pick Hard mode! You'll take all your gun and shield upgrades into the Hard mode version of the game. Ready for a REAL CHALLENGE? Start Hard mode from scratch! One shield, one gun, and your ChainStaff! It's pretty tough but very satisfying to beat. What's in the free Hard Mode update? Hard mode detailsNew Enemy Attacks: All 10 levels have new enemy attacks to further challenge you. Previously simple flying enemies now shoot multiple shots in a spread. Rolling worms now stack on top of each other for a double-sized obstacle.New Level Sections: Levels feature special hard mode sections: Test your swinging abilities to the max with new “all flying enemy” segments. Tougher mid-sized enemies now show up to attack in surprise areas. All soldiers and major upgrades are in the same locations to preserve speed run knowledge.Nastier boss fights: All bosses have extra hard mode attacks to force you to change up your moves.New Game+ Option: Already beat the game in Normal mode? Take all your gear with you into Hard mode for an edge against the alien forces. Or start Hard mode from scratch for a truly Brutal challenge.All Skill Levels Welcome: In addition to Hard and Normal modes, there is still an Easy mode to ease you into the world of ChainStaff. You can gain upgrades in this mode, increase your skills, and carry upgrades over to Normal and Hard modes.New Player Deaths!Here's a cool little thing. The new update has several new animated player deaths! I'll leave you find them, but they really spice up all the challenge of the new Hard mode.ChainStaff Official Soundtrack Volume 1In addition to the Hard mode update, the Official Soundtrack for ChainStaff is out now. Featuring 28 tracks from the game, this volume 1 is sure to please fans of classic rock and heavy metal. Available on all major music streaming platforms.Read full article on Community Announcements (Mommy's Best Games)Patch NotesOfficial
Patch 2
Patch 2 fixes-fixed camera in level 2 cave.-level 10 balance for easy, more shields.-properly clears soldiers killed (soldiers don't attack you on new-game+ now)made controller disconnect message not say "player", instead says "controller" to not imply that there is a two-player option.SPOILERS: There are spoilers in this bug list regarding bosses......SPOILERS: -alien alaric boss now has weak-point-cover damage stages.-far right collision on alien alaric adjusted to not stop player shots against boss.-trying to fix acid drips from alien alaric.-bounce shots from alien alaric tail now drive along the ground like saw blades.END SPOILERSRead full article on Community Announcements (Mommy's Best Games)AnnouncementsOfficial
Soundtrack is Out Now, "The Ultimate Weapon" Music Video
Are you ready to rock?I said...Are you ready to rock?People, we have a full-on music video!Check out "The Ultimate Weapon", the theme song for ChainStaff created by the brilliant Deon van Heerden (composer on Broforce). CAREFUL: Listening to this may cause loud outbursts of singing and pumping of fists in the air! :DGuaranteed the catchiest video game song you'll hear all year!The official ChainStaff soundtrack is out now (all files are released if you've already purchased it--just restart Steam), Volume 1 is on Steam, complete with The Ultimate Weapon song. Enjoy!Read full article on Community Announcements (Mommy's Best Games)
